My strange kitten breed.

metalapothecary · Jan 15, 2008

I recently got my new kitten, Apollo.

I know his parents, and I know their parents. I have also seen Apollo's first 2 sets of siblings (he's part of the third litter). And every single cat mentioned is a bi-colour american shorthair, grey and white in different ratios, and eyes faded to a hazel/yellow.

But Apollo, aswell as his brother from the same litter are odd balls. His brother is a long hair with mostly white fur and a couple of grey patches on it's back....

Then there's Apollo, who the day he was born, was all white. Now he looks like a seal point Siamese, blue eyes and all.

I looked it up, and the only information I got was a cross breed called a Snowshoe cat which is bi-coloured mixed with Siamese. But Snowshoes has white paws, Apollo looks like a full seal point siamese.

I doubt this is the right section for this question, but I'm very curious as to why he turned out the way he did. There's no siamese that I know of in the gene pool, and I'm not even sure if that matters, but it's a mystery.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?ai...14080675&saved
These are some pictures. One photo has his brother, not the long haired one though.

goldenkitty45 · Jan 15, 2008

Long hair and pointed (siamese color) are RECESSIVE genes. That means that even if the parents or grand parents or great grand parents don't look like it - they still can be carriers of those recessive genes.

It can stay hidden for 10-20 generations - once in there, its there forever and only a matter of time before 2 of the same recessive genes combine.

Case in point. A cornish rex breeder friend had a chocolate kitten show up in the litter. Chocolate is recessive and rare. The immediate 4-5 generation pedigree gave no clue as to "chocolate" and the association didn't want to register the kittens because its was "impossible" with what was given.

However, in tracing back the 5th generation another 5 generations (for proof) - they discovered that in the 8th and 9th generation of this kitten, there was a chocolate rex. So the recessive gene was there, just took 8 generations to show up.

That's what happened in your kittens/cats case - its nothing more then recessive genes on both sides finally combining

ferriscat · Jan 15, 2008

Don't forget, a litter of kittens can have multiple fathers! Perhaps there was an oops! mixed in there. . .

metalapothecary · Jan 15, 2008

Thanks, that's very helpful. I'm gonna think of my kitten as being a ginger kid now haha.

And I know the mother hasn't been around any other cats, so the second father is out of the question.

metalapothecary · Jan 18, 2008

Doing a bit more research on Apollo, I found that pointed colouring in DSH cats is a mutation in the melanin enzyme or something and the mutation makes it heat sensitive, thus the points/extremeties are darker... They called it partial albinism... Apollo was all white the day he was born, which this research also indicated....

But if it's recessive, and Apollo isn't partial albino, then would his eyes not match his siblings and parents?

goldenkitty45 · Jan 18, 2008

The pointed gene cats will have blue or aqua eye color - not gold or green. Think of the Siamese or Tonkinese cats - both are pointed and have the blue or aqua eye colors.

If your cat is pointed, he will have blue eyes

You're making it more complicated to explain then it really is.....

bab-ush-niik · Jan 18, 2008

I don't believe "partial albinism" is the right term. There's a gene that determines albinism. In many animals, there are only two alleles: either the animal is albino, or it is not.

In cats, there's 5 alleles.
"Normal" (no affect on eye or coat color)
"Burmese-type points" (green eyes, coat is colored but darker at points where body temps are cooler)
"Siamese-type points" (blue eyes, coat is white/cream and pointed where body temps are cooler)
"Blue-eyed albino" (blue eyes, white coat)
"Pink-eyed albino" (pink/red eyes, white coat)

The first three are common, and your kitten is number 3. Each is recessive to the one above it, so a cat can look "normal" and by carrying for siamese-type points or even pink-eyed albino. In your kitten's case, both parents were carriers for siamese-type points. That doesn't make him a Siamese cat, it just means he's pointed.

(The exception is that burmese and siamese points are actually co-dominant, resulting in a cat with teal eyes and a coat that's halfway between the two.)

The heat sensitivity thing is correct, which means if your cat got shaved, his coat would (temporarily) come in darker in that area. It also means if you live in a cold environment, he could eventually turn black, and if you live in a warm environment, he'll keep a white background to his points. His eyes will not match his parents; they will stay blue.

metalapothecary · Jan 19, 2008

Originally Posted by bab-ush-niik

I don't believe "partial albinism" is the right term. There's a gene that determines albinism. In many animals, there are only two alleles: either the animal is albino, or it is not.

In cats, there's 5 alleles.
"Normal" (no affect on eye or coat color)
"Burmese-type points" (green eyes, coat is colored but darker at points where body temps are cooler)
"Siamese-type points" (blue eyes, coat is white/cream and pointed where body temps are cooler)
"Blue-eyed albino" (blue eyes, white coat)
"Pink-eyed albino" (pink/red eyes, white coat)

The first three are common, and your kitten is number 3. Each is recessive to the one above it, so a cat can look "normal" and by carrying for siamese-type points or even pink-eyed albino. In your kitten's case, both parents were carriers for siamese-type points. That doesn't make him a Siamese cat, it just means he's pointed.

(The exception is that burmese and siamese points are actually co-dominant, resulting in a cat with teal eyes and a coat that's halfway between the two.)

The heat sensitivity thing is correct, which means if your cat got shaved, his coat would (temporarily) come in darker in that area. It also means if you live in a cold environment, he could eventually turn black, and if you live in a warm environment, he'll keep a white background to his points. His eyes will not match his parents; they will stay blue.

Thank you very much. I was ill informed on the subject. This is very helpful, very interesting, and very awesome.

Just out of curiosity, at any time through his life, if he gets a fever, would his face colour be a sign?

My strange kitten breed.

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